MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Michigan Education Association
and American Federation of Teachers of Michigan are competing to add
non-tenured faculty at Central Michigan University to their ranks, according to
a report in Central Michigan Life, the campus newspaper.

The MEA already represents two employee groups on campus,
including the Faculty Association, the report said. MEA volunteer members have
launched an "awareness campaign" among non-tenured faculty about the benefits
of unionizing under the MEA umbrella, CM Life reported.

Elizabeth Richard, a communications and dramatic arts
instructor who is working with the AFT on unionization, told CM Life that AFT
has experience in collective bargaining with non-tenured faculty at other
campuses. She said the focus should be on needs specific to non-tenured
faculty, CMU Life reported.

The MEA would like an organizing election to take place in
December, but Richard suggested next semester, according to CM Life.

Steve Smith, CMU director of public relations, told CM Life
that if the non-tenured faculty organize, the university will work with them.
Richard cited job security and wages as issues that non-tenured faculty want to
address, according to CM Life.